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Government Security

Interpol rebuffs calls for web police

By Robin Hicks | 9 February 2010

Calls for the creation of an internet police force to tackle unprecedented levels of cyber crime have been rebuffed by the director of IT at Interpol in an interview with FutureGov. Noboru Nakatani, Director for Information Systems and Technology for the global police network Interpol said that setting up a net police would be “reinventing the wheel” and the problem can be checked more effectively by “maximising existing resources and expertise.”

“Interpol is ready to take on further responsibilities to combat the global cyber crime issue,” he told FutureGov.

His comments come in response to calls made by the CEO of security software company Kaspersky Labs for an “Internet Interpol” to deal with the rise of large “mafia-style” organised crime syndicates that are swamping internet users with malicious software for financial gain.

The firm’s founder Eugene Kaspersky said that current policing methods were ineffective due to a lack of information-sharing between national police and other law enforcement agencies. “The problem is that cyber police are not able to trace criminals. Because cyber criminals are based in different countries, we need an Internet Interpol,” he said.

Nakatani retorted that Interpol, as the only global police organisation, is “well positioned” to tackle the growth in cyber crime and coordinate international efforts to prevent it.

Interpol has a global police communication network linking all 188 member countries member countries’ law enforcement agencies with global criminal databases, he noted. And last year Interpol joined global cyber security body FIRST (Forum of Incident Response and Security Team) to facilitate interaction between law enforcement agencies and CERTs (Computer Emergency Response Teams).

However, Interpol is not the only international organisation with responsibility for stopping cyber criminals. Last year saw the launch of Malaysia-head quartered IMPACT (International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats) which has 191 member states, partners in academia and the vendor community, and serves as the United Nations global cyber security unit.

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